5. Final Space: The Rescue
Final Space is one of the hidden gems to come out in the last few years. Funny and heartfelt, with beautiful animation, Final Space is one of the best sci-fi cartoons in recent memory.
The story follows Gary Goodspeed, a prisoner working off a five-year sentence from a bar pickup gone horribly wrong. He then meets planet-killing superweapon Mooncake. befriending bounty hunter Avocado by force, Gary bounces from one adventure to the next. If that story doesn’t already have you interested, you should know all that happens in the first two episodes!
Final Space: The Rescue is a first-person shooter offering up a side story. The gameplay can be a bit repetitive, but the real draw is the voice talent. Voiced by the cast, the dialogue is the main point of the game. This means the actual gameplay suffers a little. The levels can be very repetitive. and the shooting can leave something to be desired. But this is definitely a love letter to one of the best-animated shows of the decade.
4. Star Trek: Bridge Crew
Star Trek is a cultural icon at this point. While some have avoided the myriad of Star Trek properties over the years, it has amassed a massive following. From The Original Series to The Next Generation, movies, games, animated series, more recent movies, streaming shows, and more. Star Trek is such a massive part of sci-fi that anyone reading this has at least seen an “homage” or reference to it in some way this week alone.
Star Trek: Bridge Crew is less a game and more of an experience. The original form of Bridge Crew was modeled after the J.J. Abrams Star Trek movies. You take command of the bridge crew of the Enterprise to complete a mission known as the Kobayashi Maru, designed to be unbeatable. This mission will be infamous to fans of the series and movies, as it is the final test to entering the command path in Starfleet.
Bridge Crew has brought this test to life. Learning the different stations and figuring out strategy is the name of the game here. As you can imagine, the experience is made better with friends taking the other positions and working with you to victory.
Since its release, Ubisoft has added DLC and other missions. It also allows you to play in both The Original Series crew and The Next Generation crew. Whether you are a fan of Star Trek or not, this is a fun strategic game for single players and groups alike.
3. Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British legacy. An on and off series that has been going since 1963, it has found new life (and a new fanbase) with the age of the internet and global broadcasting. After a hiatus, what has been dubbed the “Revived Era” started in 2005 and gathered momentum since.
Centered around the character of the “Doctor“, a Time-Lord from a distant planet. The Doctor’s people have harnessed time travel and technology that allows for something to be “bigger on the inside”. The most notable of these is the Doctor’s TARDIS, or Time And Relative Dimension In Space, which the Doctor uses to travel through space and time.
The most recent incarnation of the Doctor is played by Jodie Whittaker, who lends her voice to the Doctor in The Edge of Time.
Half narrated story, half puzzle game, The Edge of Time brings to life some of Doctor Who‘s best villains and adds some new ones. With the 13th Doctor as your only companion and in-voice alone, you can feel a little isolated. It is extremely atmospheric and legitimately scary at times. I would have to say, it isn’t for the faint of heart, and maybe should be played with others around and during the daytime. That said, it is a faithful Doctor Who experiences that true fans should definitely seek out. Also, it’s canon!
2. Star Wars: Vader Immortal
I know it has been covered to death, but it can’t be overstated how amazing Vader Immortal is.
Following an unnamed smuggler after being captured and brought to Mustafar to help Vader with a plan that could not be more sinister, the story is a well-written, canon piece of Star Wars lore.
The incredible three-part campaign combined with the Lightsaber Dojo (a destroy-all-enemies in increasingly difficult waves, lightsaber training game), brings the immersion in spades. There is no experience (outside the Star Wars park in Disney World/Land) that makes you feel like you are inside the universe of Star Wars.
I will say that I sprung for hand straps for my VR controllers, which really help when you gain the ability to throw the lightsaber (so you don’t accidentally throw your controllers). Vader Immortal is a game that I find myself returning to time and time again when I have a spare few minutes to hone my lightsaber skills.
1. The Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners
Surprisingly impressive, survival-horror, first-person zombie killing. The Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners is a zombie hunting dream. With snappy combat, interesting weapons, and an inventory to keep track of in real-time, it is a tense, action-filled experience.
Players take control of the “Tourist” who goes to New Orleans in search of a massive supply cache called the “Reserve”. After that, you are left to explore and seek out supplies to your heart’s content.
Weapons are one of the more interesting gameplay aspects in Saints and Sinners. Larger weapons require you to hold them with both hands, while smaller, single-handed weapons can be faster and more precise, but you have to be closer to using them. Saints and Sinners test your fighting style in ways that not many zombie VR games can.
What makes this top of the list is that despite being a TV show tie-in game and the fact that zombie shooters are a dime a dozen in VR, The Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners have managed to make not just a great game, but a fresh-feeling zombie game in a sea of basic shooters.
I’ll admit I haven’t watched the show since season three, and that didn’t matter here. It is a great game, that just happens to take place in the same world as The Walking Dead. Totally worth checking out if you’re a fan of survival horror.
